The Son Of Wrex
by Hector Flores
Summary: A boy goes from being a slave to one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy, helps his friend's sister, when that did not seem to help he decides to look towards a new horizon. A woman promised him a new beginning, he had nothing to lose.
1. Chapter 1

This is a Mass Effect Fan Fiction Only.

My life growing up was not like many would expect, I was born on a Colony on the Planet Mindoir, my family was really hard working and my best friend and John spent quite a lot of time together reading and playing with electronics, we both used to joke had my parents not been so busy then we would never get to experiment with things like we did.

I mean it's not every day two boys turn an old broken computer screen into a massive video entertainment center now is it? Like I said my parents were busy, it's no real surprise since they were part of the staff that helped keep everything organized in the colony. John and I often joked that one day we would build a spaceship and be able to go and explore the unknown regions of space, become real space explorers.

I had my skills with electronics and I was not such a bad hacker if needed, John was a biotic nightmare, meaning anyone foolish enough to really piss him off would be face to face with their worst nightmare. Since I managed to get a free copy of a Blasto movie, well dad felt my computer skills would be better used in helping to maintain the equipment at the local spaceport.

Little did I know my life would turn working what I considered the more boring job in the galaxy. One month after I began working there, I decide to take a small bathroom break and all hell breaks loose, Batarians decided that our prosperous colony was right for the picking, and they began to attack and land on our colony without even a single word as to give the officials a chance to surrender or negotiate.

I was beaten, have weird stuff injected into me, that made me feel like the stuff was cooking my brains inside my own skull, and slapped a metal collar on my neck that every time I did not obey or do things quickly enough would send an electrical discharge that made me think my nerves were being burned by acid.

I don't know what happened to John, all I know I was in constant pain, in a cage I would not even consider nice enough for a Pyjak to call home. The cage a metal, and the controls were not on the cage, trust me, if the controls were on the cage I would have tried to break the thing open if only to help the other captives escape.

I was sold to a rather nasty space jellyfish, alright they call themselves Hanar, and they hate that jellyfish comment something awful, I got the burn marks, and electrical whip scars to prove it. The owner that paid to own me and three other colonists was recluse, something that he did or made us do, that made him hated by his own kind.

The thing had skin in a color I could not describe other than Disco Pink, you would not believe how happy I was to learn that the thing was not gay, much to the discomfort of the three other slaves that came with me, they were girls after all. I had nightmares hearing the screams of those three, and I didn't even want to imagine what that Hanar was doing to them.

By the time I was nine, yes dad put me to work when I was not even ten years old like I said my life was strange, I must have done something to make our owner really angry with me, or he was angry for some other reason I did not know about. All I know is that he stripped me till I was as naked as the day I was born and he began hitting me with that electrical whip he loved so much.

After five minutes I just wanted the thing to shock me enough to kill me, this sort of life was no life at all. The time I spent being a slave pretty much destroyed any kindness or mercy I had, suffering tends to make a person realize how life really is and I developed quite a cold demeanor about things, I kept glaring at that stupid, perverted jellyfish as he kept hitting me with that damnable whip of his.

I swear I wish I was biotic like my friend Johnny, I would rip that whip away from him and I would make it and his tentacles get shoved up straight up where the sun don't shine. I hated the stupid thing something awful, I guess the reason for the humiliating beating must be that he found that I was the one that had poisoned every bottle of liquor he owned.

I was bleeding pretty badly and the cuts on my face was making it very hard for me to have a clear sight of what was happening, all I know is that one second I was getting whipped by the thing and next thing I know I hear someone laughing and shooting a rather large shotgun, I heard three shots and the whipping suddenly stopped.

"Boy that stupid slaver really hated you kid. You looked like I got you out of the nest of a Thresher Maw, so tell me, kid, where are your folk?" I could not see who was talking to me, the only thing I knew it was a rather gruff sounding voice and that by the sound of it the Hanar that owned me was dead, so at least I was grateful for that.

"I imagine they are dead, and thanks to that bastard, I will more than likely end up going to where they went after those Batarians killed them. I thank you for killing him, I guess this is the only thing I can do before I go meet my maker."

As I told him that I felt someone break me free from my bindings and everything went black when my body hit something rather scaly. As I opened my eyes, there were my friends from the Colony, my parents, my neighbors, we were all wearing these strange robes and all I could see of the place was that it was sort of like a lighted room, there was this weird mist by my feet.

"Son, your mother and I have come to tell you that we love you, and we are happy that you will live. Yes, my son, you will live, I know that you will make us proud." As I woke up I began to feel things I never felt before or ever this strongly, I said my name was Maul, well in reality that is not the name that was given to me by my birth parents. To be honest I don't even remember them sometimes.

As I began to touch my arms, my skin felt different, rougher than I remember and if I had to compare it with anything, I had more of a scales feel than what I considered human, my eyes could see better than ever before and for some strange reason I had the feeling that I could eat an entire turkey dinner and still be hungry, I am not kidding, I was feeling like I was starving.

So the first thing I did was got off the bed, try and find some pants don't want to be indecent now do I? I found something that barely fits and then walked over to the place the door should be, it, of course, would not open, no matter how much I knocked or asked for someone to open the door, I finally got frustrated and began to punch at the door with all my might, my friend Johnny would have blasted that thing with his Biotics.

The strange thing is there was a flash of light coming from me and it hit the door as I punched it, causing the light to explode and blew the giant metal door clean off and ended up getting stuck on the wall behind it. Like I said, I was hungry, so the first order of business, well besides getting something to cover my privates was for me to find something to eat.

I walked down the hall and I met several other people that were looking at me in a rather strange way, I guess I must look weird to them, but then again large reptile men in armor, with a hump that would make a camel envious should really not consider me that strange at all. The hospital or I think it was a hospital had a buffet for their cafeteria.

I didn't care to simply ask what I wanted, I just walked over the tables, got a large tray and decided to pick up anything that looked appetizing to me, and I do mean anything, some of the dishes looked like something out of a science fiction horror noble, tentacles in cream and a soup that had what looked to be eyeballs as one of the main ingredients.

Who cares, I was hungry and so I decided to toss caution in the wind and do something that to the people watching was rather funny. I decided to stop worrying and simply do as the old saying used to say, through the teeth, past the gums, look out stomach here it comes.

I ate the entire tray and then had a second helping of some other dishes, and then a third, and that is when what looked to be security finally arrived with a man that looked like he seen hell. He had so many scars on his face that I could not help but be amazed he had anything resembling a face.

"So I rescued you, I had to give you a lot of my blood so that nutcase Okeer could save you life and then I get to learn you are officially the first ever Krogan hybrid, half one of us and half human, to make matters worse you got the worst table manners I have ever seen in my life, and I lived for a few thousand years, so why don't you stop giving me that goofy look and get over here and give me a hug, since from today on, I am your father."

I looked at him and then looked at the tray, "Could I finish this before we get to that?" He picked me up from my seat like I was nothing and he simply put me over his shoulder as he began to walk out of the cafeteria, he was laughing and told me there was time for dessert later, now he was supposed to take me to get my final check-up so that I could leave the hospital.

The doctor was not what I call gentle or polite in the way he did the last checkup, and when he called me a mutant waste of flesh, now I was angry, angry enough that I got off the table walked over to the doctor and felt like headbutting him really hard. I did, and the doctor was knocked out and on the floor before I knew it.

"Well, as it stands boy, you are now my son, and you have a lot to learn about your new home. I, however, don't plan to teach you and then do the practical learning later, you will learn on the job as it were, you will do my line of work and I see you are not against a little violence I say you will be able to pick up my line of work rather fast."

He walked over to me and threw at me some new clothes and these actually fit me better than the pair of pants I had been wearing before, he told me to finish getting dressed in my new armor and while I did so he began to talk to me, "Like I said officially you are my son, my name is Urdnot Wrex, and in case you didn't know all members of our clan have the name of our clan as a part of their name, since you are keen in the direct approach I guess I was right to call you Maul."

"You will learn for a couple of years and then you will undergo our rite of passage, it has plenty of ferocious animals that you must fight, even a thresher maw, so you see my training of you will not be that gentle. I am a bounty hunter, and since you are my son, so are you. Stop playing with that, grab this shotgun and let's go, we have a lot of things to do today."

It turns out that I finished my training faster than expected and I was fifteen years old when I faced my rite of passage, I was loving every moment of it, when I finally got to fight the thresher maw I was having so much fun that I began to throw biotic attacks at it, singularities, warp fields, and firing flame engulfed shots from my shotgun, the darn thing was dead in a matter of minutes, much to my disappointment. I really wanted the fun to last a lot longer.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me that is all you got, come on, the fun is barely starting, get up, don't pretend to be dead, get up you lousy stinking worm, you are supposed to be one of the most feared creatures in the entire galaxy and you give up this quickly! **GET UP AND FIGHT DAMN YOU**!"

Dad finally walked up to me and stopped me from blasting the thing again, "Look, son, no matter how much you may want that thing to continue fighting you, once dead, the fight is over, no matter how much you may wish it could continue. Come on, let's go home and introduce you to the rest of our clan here on Tuchanka."

I stood right next to dad in front of the oldest Krogan I saw in my life. "You were supposed to just survive, but much like your father, you exceeded our expectations and went and killed that Thresher Maw." He placed his hand on my shoulder and began to laugh.

He forced me to turn around and look at the other Krogans cheering as they saw me, "It is my distinct honor and joy to present to the others of our clan, my grandson, Urdnot Maul. Seeing how you fought that Maw make me believe you will do me and our clan proud."


	2. Chapter 2

This is a Mass Effect Fan Fiction Only.

It turns out that bounty hunting doesn't require that much training, a twenty-minute lecture was all I actually needed. I am not even kidding, that is all the training I needed. Now how to get around the galaxy when you got no ship, people hate you, and you are what many called a scaly mutated monster, granted that was the kindest thing said about me but still.

I have been working for ten years as a Bounty Hunter, ten whole years and I guess there are some people that do sort of like me, when we are not working against each other, Zaeed Massani wasn't such a bad guy once you got to know him, and he was pretty decent when you had the bad luck of working against him. All in all, I consider him at times a worthy rival and at most times a good friend.

Right now I am sitting right next to him, in a bar that didn't have any decent Ryncol. "Look you can pretend to be the Shadow Broker all you like, but we both been sitting here for the last two hours, I don't know about you, but either I or Zaeed here like to lose time when we could be earning some money."

The man looked at us and he began to smile, I don't think Zaeed like this man, that is when I heard him, "I am an agent of the Shadow Broker, and you have guts talking to me like that. Good, that is exactly what I need. A fellow agent that goes by the name Fist has betrayed the Shadow Broker, and according to our information you two are the most feared Bounty Hunters in the Galaxy."

I looked at Zaeed and could not help but to shake my head, "I will save us some time, if you want this guy named Fist captured alive, you talk to Zaeed here, he is the one with the heart of gold. He is the one that has the capture them alive rates, but me, you just need to tell me what you want as proof? You want the head, the heart, or just a picture of his dead body, because after I am done with the target that person will be dead."

Zaeed looked at me and began laughing, "Hey, anyone can kill a person, it takes skill to bring them in alive, never knew why you liked to kill your prey Maul, honestly, you never told me why." I could not help but laugh as he said that. I took my last sip of my drink like I said this bar had no decent Ryncol.

"I ain't got a ship, I don't babysit, and they tend to insult either me, my Clan or my profession. Can't help it if they upset me that badly now can I? Besides some of our prey as you call them have such fragile bodies, it doesn't take much for me to break them apart. No offense."

I saw Zaeed take his last sip and told me none taken. The Agent that still has not told us his name began to look at us, "As a matter of a fact it would not be a problem to hire either one of you, cause we want to make an example out of Fist, we want to make it clear, you betray the Shadow Broker, you die." He placed a piece of paper and we both looked at it.

He looked at me and began to smile, "You take this Bounty Maul, I don't even want to bother with it, especially when it is such a pathetic amount, maybe after this one you will have enough to pay for a regular ticket in most transport ships and stop traveling as cargo."

He got up and left, paid for both our drinks too. Like I said Zaeed is a good friend most of the time. The Agent told me that Fist was on the Citadel, that is why Massani decided not to take the bounty, damn it, had I know about that sooner I wouldn't have taken the bounty either, I know most people consider that place to be beautiful, a city in space, the seat of the Council, the heart of Galactic Government, my words on the place are simple, no matter how much you polish, paint, or even the amount of perfume you use, a turd is still a turd.

The fact that those blasted Salarians had a seat on the so-called Council, was more than enough for anyone in my Clan to hate the stinking place. It turns out Okeer did not save my life out of the goodness of his heart, he thought that maybe by splicing some human genetic material he could find a way to cure the disease most of my kind suffer, the Genophage is called, I call it as it is, the Genocide cause that is what it does.

I got off the ship and went towards Citadel Security, for some odd reason I always had to stop by and check in with them. I looked at the guy in front of me, a long time ago I might not have been considered such a threat, in fact, we could have ended up working together and being good friends had those slavers now come to our colony, but that was not the case since they did come.

"Name and Occupation." I looked at him and began to shake my head, I don't know how many times I been on this space station, and how many times I answered that, but I would think the shotgun, armor and clan markings would make me that difficult to identify. "Urdnot Maul, Bounty Hunter."

"Reason for coming to the Citadel." I was getting tired of this crap, I mean it. "I have come to find the guy called Fist and kill him, I was hired by the Shadow Broker. Now, are we done with this crap, cause unlike you, I got work to do."

He finally dropped that stupid clipboard and looked at me. "Look, Maul, I am working, and I have to ask you these questions, it's bad enough I have to talk to a mutant freak like you, to make matters worse I have to listen to your disrespectful words. Do you want me and the other security hear to throw you off the station?"

I looked at him as I got closer to him, "I want you to try." That is when someone came towards me as the guy left muttering about something about the lack of standards, I swear this person seemed almost familiar, if I didn't know any better I would say she once was my girlfriend, no, that can't be, Johnny and his sister are probably both dead.

I looked at her as she was walking towards me, yep, there is no way this was Jane, those legs, nice hips, waist and pair of breast that were by no way small, pretty decent if the way her armor looked told me anything, yep, there is no way skinny Jane ended up being this armor wearing beauty that was walking towards me.

I waited for her and her friends to come towards me, "You are the guy by the name of Urdnot Maul, I need to have a word with you, I hear that you are after a guy named Fist. I think we can help each other out."

I looked at her and got closer to her, "I am going to kill Fist, I wanted to tell you out of professional courtesy. Now my question is this, Why do I get the feeling that your name is Shepard, Jane Shepard, if that is the case you would know Johnny, but that is not possible, she and my friend Johnny died when those damn slavers attacked our colony on Mindoir."

She grabbed my chest plate and pulled me even closer, I could practically smell the perfume on her, that is how close she held me, "My brother John Shepard died on the day those Slavers attacked my colony and so did his best friend, I don't think it's funny to pretend to be from that colony, especially since I lost my only boyfriend the same day my brother got killed."

That does it, this really is Jane, "You really have developed quite the figure, Jane, you used to be as skinny as a twig, and no, you didn't lose a boyfriend that day, you broke up with me when your brother and me built that home theater and got that copy of that Blasto movie, thanks a lot for telling my parents."

She looked at me and for a second there I could swear she was going to kiss me, I really hope that is not the case, we are already making quite the scene already. "Yea, I was skinny when I was younger wasn't I? You might not remember it, but my family wasn't rich enough to have three meals a day, neither was yours as far as I remember. You think I changed, you changed a whole lot more than I did Paul."

I looked at her and began shaking my head, "That ain't my name anymore, got adopted. My name is Maul, I am from Clan Urdnot. Come on Jane, we can catch up as we walk, we got a meeting with Fist after all, and something tells me you and your Turian bodyguard there don't have a lot of time to waste."

As we walked I found out he was once a proud member of C-Sec, I don't know why anyone would be proud of being in Citadel Security, then again it might have to do with the fact that they treat my kind not the same way that everyone else, who am I kidding, they treat us even worse than they do the Quarians, and they are the ones that made that race of homicidal robots.

"Garrus Vakarian is my name. Your girlfriend or should I say lover here wanted information about a matter I was investigating, now that you had this lovely reunion, however, I am wondering if you want to have a drink and catch up."

She looked really upset when she began to look at Garrus, can't help but to feel pity for him, I remember that look rather well. "First of you need to clean your ears or get an implant cause you are definitely suffering some hearing loss. I never slept with him so we were never lovers, and he is my ex. I am sort of happy cause if he was still my boyfriend, I would need to ask him how many times he has cheated on me."

She touched her pistol and looked at us both, "Both of you would not survive should that happen." As we reached the bar, there was only one word I could use to describe the place, tacky. I mean the sign was the shape of a naked Asari.

As we walked in I looked at the bartender, "Give me the mic, I got an announcement to make." She was not going to, till she saw I had my hand on my shotgun, then she gave me the mic and ran away either to inform Security or just to save her life.

"Good evening, I don't mean to interrupt your time, but I feel the need to inform you. This joint is coming down in flames, everyone that wants to live till old age, or just live better get out now, and Fist, better say your prayers cause when I get to you, you will need them."

I smashed the mic by throwing it up in the air and blasting it to pieces with my shotgun, that got the point across and most of the people in the bar did run away, as they left Fist apparently sent his goons after us. I, Jane and Garrus made short work of these idiots. I kept shooting, she kept them floating, nothing like having such easy targets.

"I never say nice things about Turians as a matter of pride, but that was a nice shot Garrus. Let's hope this dump has a shooting gallery so we can have a contest." Garrus began shaking his head and looked at me with a smile. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, I don't have a thing against Krogans, but my kind was sort to blame for what happened so I understand, a shooting gallery. I happen to know one two levels up from here, then again this place is as good as one."

Jane crushed a guy that was about to stab me and looked at both of us, "Look, keep an eye on your enemies, and you two can do your foolish male bonding later, work first, fun last. Never mind that I still have a bone to pick with you, Maul."

We both looked at her and began to shake our heads as the last of the goons took off, they just saw one guy get crushed into pulp by her biotics is not something they will soon forget or want to happen to them.

Fist walked toward his desk and sat down on it, I know that he is up to something. "Damn it, Maul, I provided good intel on your target and this is how you thank me. You bust in, ruin my business, kill my men, what I want to know is why! Why are you gunning for me, when I helped you in the past."

I looked at him and then at Jane, "My friend here wanted to ask you a question, and your men were not going to let them in, I can tell. So come on Jane ask your question, so I can do what I came here to do."

She looked less angry when I told her that and looked at Fist with a smile, a smile that made me feel something of a chill in the back of my neck, "A Quarian came to sell your information, I want to know where that Quarian is."

He laughed, "You are nuts if you think I would tell you that, the Shadow Broker would have me killed if I tell you where to find that duct rat. You know you got a smoking hot body, I think I might need a new stripper. So how about you strip for me, and become one of my bitches, you will live or you can refuse and die."

She grabbed her gun and blasted one vase that was sitting on his desk, thank god, I really hated to have to keep looking at that stupid thing. Garrus began to actually laugh, "You better tell this lady what she wants, you have three choices, get crushed into a ball by her, get mauled by that guy or get shot by me, and I am aiming for the family jewels if you get my meaning."

I think that if I spent more time with this guy, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. "Look the chick you are after has got a death warrant, she is off meeting people that work for a Specter and we know what they are like, this is for the Council's top enforcer, I was not about to get in the way of Saren."

I looked at him, and he began to cry, "She is in meeting them in the passageway behind the market. Please I just want to live, can you show me some mercy, Maul, I helped you plenty in the past. I can be a good source of information to you."

She holstered her gun, damn it, I will have to talk to Jane about being so damn naive. Just as I knew it, Fist took out a gun from a hidden compartment on his desk, I shot him dead before he could even aim at her.

"Why kill him?" Jane looked at me. "We don't kill prisoners." I looked at her and began shaking my head. This was going to be a long conversation later, "We can sit here arguing or we can save the Quarian, your call Jane. I was hired to kill him by the Shadow Broker, I never break a contract."

We took off towards the meeting place, and maybe she is padding that environment suit, but from the look of it she too had a nice figure, especially for a Quarian, what? I am single and in the prime of my life, like any healthy young man would not think the same after looking at her.

We blasted the goons, I got some of their personal items, and managed to get most of their communications and data from their personal Omni tools. "Thank you, they were about to kill me, the only thing I asked was to meet with the Shadow Broker, I have information to sell for my safety."

I heard Jane laugh, "Those men work for a corrupt Specter by the name of Saren Arterius, I will keep you safe miss, and I want that information Saren wanted bad enough to kill to keep hidden, so how about it?"

She began to look at me and then at her, "I will gladly give you the information as a means to thank you for saving my life, and offer my aid in anything I can. You look a little like a Krogan but you handled that hacking of those tools rather nicely. The name is Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya, so who are you handsome?"

Jane began to shake her head, "That guy is Garrus, the guy who has the shotgun is Maul, and I am Jane Shepard, Alliance Military, now we can talk as we walk but we got a meeting with the Citadel Council, and Garrus has to explain a few things to his superiors about a shootout we had in a bar no less."


	3. Chapter 3

This is a Mass Effect Fan Fiction Only.

So it turns out that the one time I decided to flip off a Spectre named Saren was actually a good decision on my part, I can't wait to tell that to my dad, he owns me some serious money on that bet. As I finished listening to the recorded voices this young woman got from the core of a machine we call the Geth, I realized two things that were wrong.

My friend was right the entire time, Saren did attack a human colony, tried to kill them, and wants to be the closest thing to the Antichrist that this galaxy ever had. He wants to open a conduit that will bring back sentient machine horrors that have killed all life on the galaxy, and the Geth worship these things as their gods.

The second thing is this, why couldn't we see this without having to have Tali sitting on my lap, and Jane shamelessly teasing me about it the entire time we heard that recording. I better not find out Jane agreed that sitting on me like this was the price of admission, for my childhood friend's sake I better not find out that is why I ended up like that.

As soon as we finished hearing this and a slow as hell elevator ride. I am not apologizing, I am never apologizing to the council or whoever needs to repair that elevator. I blasted the speaker on that thing to pieces with my shotgun, that was some of the worst music I ever heard, and this is from a guy who has heard a Pijak burping the Happy Birthday song.

We made it to the office of the human ambassador and we were about to report what Jane discovered when I see a bald, stupid human, look like he was about ready to go into a blood rage. **"SHEPARD MIND TELLING ME WHAT I JUST HEARD? YOU AND THE PEOPLE WITH YOU LAUNCHED AN UNAUTHORIZED ASSAULT ON A BAR, AND KILLED ALL THE EMPLOYEES INCLUDING THE OWNER! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT! DOES THE TERM POLITICAL SHIT STORM SOMETHING YOU ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH?"**

Well after that screaming, I was having a few mixed feelings, on the one side we have an idiot that could have very easily heard why we did this, without having to scream like that, if he kept quiet and let Jane report. On the other side, I was very happy, that I was not considered a member of his species anymore. It made me think that most of my clan are the single most civil beings in the galaxy compared to Ambassador Udina.

"Well, as far as what you said, she was getting you evidence on the treason Saren committed by attacking a human colony, this evidence would pretty much ensure that you don't look like an absolute jackass when you testify before the council, as for killing the owner of the bar? Jane did no such thing, I killed him, and if you want to launch a complaint, you can send a message to the Shadow Broker, who will more than likely have you suffer the same fate as Fist."

That made the idiot reconsider his next words, or maybe it was the fact that I was secretly hoping to take that contract when the Shadow Broker actually did post the bounty on him, guess me holding my shotgun gave him that idea or the fact that I knew I was smiling.

"Very well, Commander Shepard I am sorry I jumped to conclusions, it seems that you and these people have indeed been doing your duty, mind if I ask what is this evidence that is going to prove Saren is a traitor to the council? I need to hear it be prepared to answer any questions that the Citadel Council may ask."

I had better things than to sit here listening to this garbage, I already listened to the recording and indeed, I had to report my own bounty. This at the very least earned me some money, that and the fact that if I spent another second near Udina the Human Alliance will need to find another Ambassador, shortly after I get done with the current one.

The man I was supposed to report was a Volus, an environmental suit wearing Pijak would be what some of my clan would call them. Their ambassador may be an insufferable little egomaniac but at least the person that I was going to report to was polite, not to mention that this is not the first time I ever reported a bounty with him.

The one thing that always surprised me is how empty his office was, for a guy who is the financial adviser to so many people, you would expect much businesses trying to make good use of his services, and I don't mean only the ones he offers publicly, there was no better person in the Citadel to move money around without anyone the wiser, or make questionable money seem totally legit.

"Barla the contract was finished as the client wanted, then again who am I telling this to? You probably know this already." The guy looked at me, I honestly can't tell if he is smiling or grinning since he wears that suit all the time, honestly, I would suspect he was a Quarian if I didn't know any better.

"Maul, I know, the credits are being transferred to your account as we speak, the Shadow Broker decided to send you a bonus for the expediency of your contract resolution and for the results it had, the other Agents all know that if they betray the Shadow Broker, they might as well prepare their funeral. I personally am surprised, you worked with Fist quite a few times, I would expect you to find a way to remove him from the Citadel but let him live."

I guess he is sneering more than grinning in that suit of his. "The Shadow Broker wanted the man dead, a failure is never an option for me. If you are upset that I ended the life of a former colleague of yours, well it was his fault to begin with, now on to more personal matters, how is my lawsuit coming along? Did the idiots at least give my clan a refund for their little scam?"

He began shaking his head, "Sadly no, they insist that they finished the project your people ordered, it is just that the research data was either stolen or destroyed by someone, they have a suspicion it was either a Council Spectre or a Salarian Special Tasks Group. I tend to believe them, so tell me Maul is there something else I can do for you, not that I mind you being in my office, but your presence does tend to scare others."

I looked at him and I could not help but smile, "I am a bounty, I kill people for a living, it would be strange if they found me docile and charming, the fear factor also helps. Just tell me has the Shadow Broker sent you another bounty for me? And please tell me the next one is Udina."

He was not even hiding his amusement as I said that, he was laughing so hard it, he was nearly falling on the floor. "No, sadly, Ambassador Udina is still in the good books with the Shadow Broker, even if he did complain about the murder of Fist and his employees. I guess having his favorite bar closed was not something that made him too happy."

I took the hint and did the only thing I could do, go to the nearest bar, which just happened to be near the embassies and sat down on the nearest bar stool. I looked at the bartender and he was someone I met several times, for professional reasons, for some strange reason some real sick people been trying to kidnap his baby girl, and I was the one he hired to rescue her and make sure the idiots paid for doing that.

I lost count how many times I traveled in a cargo bay to go to places that poor girl has been taken to. "So Maul, just so that we are clear this is not personal, or against you or your Clan, but an Ambassador, a human Ambassador has pretty much made it illegal for me to stock Ryncol. I don't know if this guy hates Krogan or he hates you, but sorry to tell you, the best you can possibly get is something from Turian Homeworld."

If I hated Udina before, now I really hate him to the point that I should be declared a saint by simply containing my rage and not going over to his office, beating the stupid bastard through a wall. I also didn't want to cause harm to my people by making trouble with the Citadel Council, alright the last one was an excuse, but that is the one I would mention if asked.

Here I was surrounded by people and I was drinking some rather poor liquor, I pretty much figured that from now on, I would get to continue my work as a bounty hunter, but no, fate had another plan for me it seems, because I was just taking a sip of my drink, and here comes my childhood friend Jane, and boy she didn't look happy for some reason.

"Could it have hurt you to stick around a little longer than that? Apparently, the esteemed Ambassador wants everyone who listened to the evidence to meet him in the Citadel Tower to testify before the Council, and where was my good friend? Gone, leaving me to explain why you left without as much as asking permission or telling me where you were!"

I finished my drink in a single gulp and looked at Jane's face while she glared at me. "First I am not an employee or part of your Earth Alliance, second I needed to report the completion of my contract, third, I am here trying to cool off so that I don't accidentally go into a blood rage and kill that lousy, good for nothing bastard, the bastard helped to get Ryncol banned in the Citadel! So tell me what should I have done? Cool off and maybe keep your idiot Ambassador alive or stay and piss off the Shadow Broker?"

Jane just began to shake her head, "Whatever happened to the sweet guy that once was my boyfriend? The guy that used to always was getting in trouble with my brother, and could do the single most endearing things for kids at the orphanage in our colony? The guy that my mother used to swear we would end up getting married."

I got up and strapped my shotgun on my back as soon as the bartender threw to me. Yes, go figure, the bartender would only let me drink at his bar if I handed him my shotgun. I don't know why he feels like he needed to do that, I mean with my biotic powers alone I could destroy the entire bar without even trying.

"I don't like this Jane, and you don't like this either or you would tell an excuse that I left the Citadel if you could. Come on, let's go meet the Council, but somehow I don't think they will want to believe the testimony of the Ambassador or ours, to believe their precious star among the Spectres committed a crime? Not going to happen."

We managed to meet with a local cult leader, who for someone who could help people with their problems, had a real big problem with her love life, we also managed to make a good time to the Citadel Tower, except that we had to help two people clear up a religious misunderstanding, a Turian officer of C-Sec was informing that he had no right to actually try to convert or give sermons in the area he was in.

The religious guy in question was a Hanar which means he was very vocal about why he had the right to spread the word of the Enkindlers. I finally manage to use the argument that this would be bad for his species and Jane the argument that this was not something his faith would teach. In the end, the Hanar left the area and the officer was very happy that we managed to cut down on his paperwork.

I am not kidding here, he was not happy that we avoided a political situation, he was not happy that we managed to avoid riots and protests, no he was happy because since we managed to get according to him that stupid jellyfish to see reason, we actually reduced the amount of paperwork he would have to file by the end of his shift.

We finally reached the Audience Chamber, and wouldn't you know it, Udina was already presenting his case before the three idiots, I mean the Citadel Council. I saw a holographic image of Saren meaning he was using a holographic communication channel. The traitor couldn't bother to come in person. "So this is the human that cause the beacon to explode, and she has the gull of accusing me of treason, not to mention the company she keeps, a Krogan, like their kind are trustworthy at all."

I saw Jane look at him with such hate, I am glad I am not on the receiving end of that glare. "You think that you will be able to talk your wait out of this, but I didn't come unprepared. You can insult me till you grow gills, but you keep the insults you have for my crew or else, next time you meet him you will find why a Blood Rage is a reason why Krogan are feared."

I looked at the Council and I could see they were not happy to see me or one of my kind. "Jane, why don't we let the evidence speak for itself. I personally want to see the look on this bastards face when the council hears what we found. I got a bonus from the Shadow Broker you will love what he sent me as a bonus payment for a job well done."

The audio began to play, and there was no mistake that it was Saren discussing the success of attacking the human colony, and then a woman mentioned that it would bring them closer to the conduit. I decided to show documents of every weapon purchase and bioweapon lab that Saren has been doing work with, it is clear he is researching something illegally, and to improve the shells of his Geth troops.

"Well? Is this the time when the honorable council admits these accusations are valid and takes them seriously, or is it the time when you make an excuse Saren, make some pathetic insults on the validity of the evidence and run away with your tail between your legs?"

He was glaring at me as I finished saying that, "I will not need to make any statements other than one day, I will kill you, and I will use your skull as my mug." He disappeared as the council demanded that he surrendered and come in to face charges for his crimes, only an idiot would actually obey to that request, and the council is quite stupid for thinking that he would listen.

"You see, we do have a valid case, it is time for the Council to prove that it has the best interest of all the species they protect, send you fleets to hunt down and capture that traitor! With all your fleets this situation should not even take them that long to capture Saren and put an end to the danger the human colonies face."

Tevos looked at her fellow council members and I saw how the Turan Council member was shaking his head. "Saren is proven to be a traitor, however, a fleet is an inefficient way to capture him and bring him to justice."

Udina looked at them and he was even angrier than Jane had been, "Every time we humans ask you for your help, you brush us aside, or ignore us. You say we are all connected, a part of a galactic community, but when you are asked to help you make excuses or ignore our plight. How are we members of a galactic community when the leaders of the said community show such apathy?"

Tevos began to nod her head. "A fleet is too much to capture one man, but there is another alternative. One that was already being considered and must now be put into effect."

Sparatus he glared at Jane and for some odd reason, I don't like that, I guess deep down I still care about my old friend. "No, humans are not ready for the responsibilities to be a Specter."

I was already angry with the Council for the way they looked at me, so I decided to make it clear. "Look. You don't want to name a human a Specter, fine, there is another alternative, name me! I am a professional bounty hunter, I will hunt down Saren and bring you back what is left of him when I get done with him. So those are your alternatives, name Jane Shepard the first human Specter or get ready to name the First Krogan Specter, and I think one on the council would hate that idea.

Sparatus looked at Valern and they both reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement. "Jane Shepard steps forward, You are to be granted all privileges and right as a member of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

Sparatus looked at me and then at her. "Specters are chosen, the very best of the best, they are our right hand, an instrument of our will, security of the galaxy is theirs to ensure."

Valern was next. "Specters are not trained, but born, individuals that have risen above the name and rank, individuals who have distinguished themselves through the heat of battle, they are the Council best and last line of Defense."

Tevos didn't even bother looking at me, "With this, we conclude this meeting of the Council, Shepard you shall be sent all relevant information regarding Saren, you are tasked with capturing and bringing him back to face punishment for his crime."


	4. Chapter 4

This is a Mass Effect Fan Fiction Only.

I didn't even wait to hear the garbage the human ambassador had to say, to me it is the same gas no matter from which end of him it came out of, it's not like I am human anyways. I told the stuck-up jerks at the council if they named me, they would be naming the first Krogan to that position, because I am a Krogan and damn proud of being part of Clan Urdnot.

As we walked through Citadel Security I was itching, hoping, wishing for some of the idiots in this place to pick a fight, after what I went through with the narcissists of the Citadel Council, ungrateful jerks, I am ready to go full blood rage on a drop of a hat, so a few dozen kills would be a wonderful way for me to feel better.

I looked at the officers and they quickly looked away from me or gave me a lot of personal space, stinking cowards, don't have the backbone to pick a fight, well here is hoping that Jane will provide me with something to kill and soon. I sometimes wish I could just blast that idiot Udina and call it my charitable act for this century.

"Maul, would you mind telling me why you hate the Council so much? I mean the way they treat me and my fellow Quarians is one thing, why do you hate them so much?" Seriously Tali is both pretty, or at least he got a nice figure, and I think she is smart, but clearly, history is not one of her favorite subjects to study, or maybe she is making small talk.

"Oh nothing much, my people fought to defend them against a race of insects that could have killed every one of their races, and what do they do? Say thank you and reward my people for a job well done? Not bloody likely, they release a biological weapon upon us, that is basically neutering my entire species. It's a miracle we aren't extinct but we are damn close to being considered an endangered species, and do they feel remorse, not one bit."

Jane didn't even bother looking at me before she faked a cough to get my attention, "Well Krogans did try to conquer and take possession of several planets." I was not going to take this from her, I told her that so did every member of the so-called Council races, we had back then a high birth rate and so my people needed more space to grow and to have enough food. It was not like we were picking the best planets either, they were going to waste anyways.

"When we were growing up Jane, did you ever consider the fact that humanity was doing exactly what you just said the Krogans did? Humanity also takeover worlds to improve their resources, and provide a better living condition for their kind. The founders of that colony did not go around looking for any sentient life, it could also be the introduction of diseases that the natives had no immunities or defenses cause them to go extinct."

As we got off the lift Jane was staring at me with this weird grin on her face, I mean for crying out loud, she is the only girl I ever slept with and she is looking at me like she is still trying to figure out if I am still the same person, true, I don't consider myself human, but my father and clan have been there for me, even in some rather rough spots in my life, of course, I am loyal.

Tali, however, was sort of relaxed after my explanation, I know from personal experience that the so-called Council races do in fact do AI research. This could explain why Tali looks like she is more relaxed with me, sort of found a kindred spirit as it were, her people were also treated badly by the Council, maybe one-day Tali will be the one that finally helps her people achieve peace.

The sight I was not expecting was of the two humans waiting for us, I hate Udina there is no mistake about that, but there are very few people that are in my profession that don't know about Anderson, the man was a legend. The things he accomplished in his life were things I always regard him with great respect.

As we walked towards them I got the feeling Udina would rather be some other place than where he was, and for once I agree with him, I too wish he as somewhere as far away from me as possible, say a strong enough wind blew him off the landing platform we were standing and he fell head first to his demise, but I am not that lucky to have that happen.

"Shepard you remember Captain Anderson, he is stepping down from commanding the Normandy, the ship has been assigned to you." Stepping down my foot, Udina the bastard probably threatened to have Jane travel around in what could be considered a garbage freighter if he could not get the Alliance's newest ship to her.

"As a specter, you need a ship of your own, you can not have any ties with Alliance military, and you need your operational independence. You served about her, you know the ship and the crew, you know as well as I do, they would follow you through the gates of Hell on your orders."

I was not about to let this situation go on anymore, I simply respected the man too much to let that bastard Udina put him through this, "How about you dump the script that the idiot next to you gave you and tell us why are you really stepping down? I know you, Captain Anderson, I know for a fact you would want to come with her to hunt down Saren, especially after what happened in that mining colony."

He looked at me and began to smile, "I was told that information was classified, then again working for the Shadow Broker must have some benefits. You are partially correct, I would love to hunt down Saren, but I am no longer as young as I used to be. If I was aboard the Council would use me as an excuse to say the entire capture was solely for me to get revenge on the man, we can't have that."

"Revenge? What are you talking about sir?" It seems Jane can't take a hint.

He stepped closer to her and placed her hand on her right shoulder, "I was in the same situation as you were Shepard, I too was nominated to be the first human Specter. It was some years ago, and Saren was the one they assigned to evaluate me like they assigned one to you. The mission was simple, fight through a mining colony and capture a slaver, Saren and went on our own half way to cover more ground."

"That is when he set the mining facility's reactor to overload, I still don't know if it was intentional or he simply did it as a diversion, the result was that the guards were taken care off, the slaver was captured, or should I say his dead body was taken, but there was a small settlement for the miners and their families, when the fumes ended over three thousand people died, mostly children."

"When Saren gave his report he said that he had to do that because I had failed to draw away the guards. I could have screamed my head off and told them my report, but without proof, they would never believe the testimony of a human over their best agent. Well, that is in the past, and if what you showed the council is true, we need to stop Saren before he finds this conduit of yours."

Udina probably wanted to get this trip down memory lane done and over with since he stepped closer to the group, closer than what I call an invasion of my personal space. "We have the information the council has decided to share with us, we got three possible leads, Feros a human colony that has gone dark, Therum, a protean dig site, and Noveria, while you do have Specter authority do not expect to have them respect your authority, they only respect the authority of the corporations and do not even listen to the Council."

"You may not be a part of the Alliance Military anymore but you do represent Humanity, keep that in mind when you do things out there." Basically, don't screw up or you will make him actually work to earn his lousy paycheck and pension. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell him to shove those last words where the sun doesn't shine.

We are dealing with possibly something that could end all life on the entire galaxy and this idiot is actually worried about us ruffling a few feathers? I swear if he tells me to contact dear old dad, and ask him to volunteer some resources to his favorite charity, meaning himself, I will throw caution out the airlock and just put the idiot Udina in a hurt locker!

As Udina finally left, I looked at Anderson and I could tell his job is going to be just as bad as mine, guess it wouldn't be too much to wish the man some good luck, with idiots like the Council and the ever self-loving idiots like Udina we will need some luck.

As we got in the ship airlock the ship started doing a basic scan and cleaning of us never happened to me before, then again I always traveled as cargo before so I often was alone. The ship's decontamination routine, however, was taking longer than I think it should, if this thing was alive I probably think the ship considered me pollution or worse.

"Well, it will be rather interesting traveling on this ship Jane, for what I can tell your ship wants to decontaminate me to death, guess it is not the only one that hates my guts." She flat out said that since I had never gone through decontamination I clearly had so many things to cleanse and sterilize that is why the ship was taking longer on me.

As soon as I enter the ship the first thing I see is this blonde woman pointing an automatic weapon at me. Honestly, put a smile on that face, a little compassion and kindness and she would be about as attractive as Jane and that is coming from the guy that knew her before she started to wear a bra. Her figure told me she works out regularly and she more into strength training rather than stamina or agility.

She did have some rather nice muscles and considering the size of the weapon she was not that weak in the upper body either, I usually with my biotics I didn't need much else other than my shotgun. I rarely used it, only when I used my powers too much or needed to take care of a large crowd of enemies, which is pretty rare as a bounty.

Surprisingly enough the older gentleman told me where exactly was the cargo bay rather quickly, I don't need to cause a scene, I mean, it's not the first time I had to travel in the cargo hold. As I walked towards the lift, I felt someone touch my arm. I knew who it was, how in the world could I ever forget it. She was the only girl that I have ever kissed in my entire life.

"Don't worry about what that person did Jane, you got tougher situations to worry about, if you want to make it up to me, however, I would appreciate it if we went to Therum first. Somehow I feel like a relative of mine is in trouble there, you decide after you finish reading the dossier that the idiot human ambassador gave you."

She stopped touching my arm and without even a second to let me react she asked me if I had any Asari relatives? I saw no reason to hide it, I indeed had an Asari relative, my brother was an Asari after all, and my niece comes to think of it. That is when it hit me, the voice I heard from the recording, I knew that I had heard it before, damn it, that was my sister in law, she is a Matriarch.

"That voice that was on the recording, and the fact that we need to travel to Therum I think I know who it is that we will find there, I see, that is why I feel like a relative is in danger from that region of space. My niece, last I heard of her had a dig site on Therum, she is a researcher that is studying the proteans, her name is Liara, Liara T'soni."

Why was Jane acting like this? If I didn't know any better I would say I was getting the feeling she was jealous for some odd reason, "And how well do you know your niece? How close are you to her?" I don't know if I should ask her to visit the ship's doctor or feel flattered that she is reacting this way.

"For the record, I barely know my brother and his mate, I stopped seeing them a long time ago. I never even met my niece and was never given a picture of her so I can't very well help you with any personal information about her, I know about the dig site because I like to keep aware of what my family has been doing, I worry about them, they are family after all."

She seemed to relax a little and looked at me, "If that is the case what exactly is your dad up to these days?" I told her he was a warlord, so of course, he is trying to unite all clans under his banner back in the homeworld, but my people aren't known for our diplomatic abilities, so the unification of the clans was a long and bloody affair.

She looked at me and began to look at me with shall we say a critical look on her face. "So mind telling me why did you say naming you a Specter would be naming the first Krogan Specter? As far as I remember you were born a human, the same I was, why would you say that? Why do you consider yourself not human?"

I looked at her and told her we needed some privacy for the answer so she invited me over to her private quarters. As we got it, I made sure the door was locked, don't need someone sneaking a peek now do I?

As I sat down on her bed I removed my top and she gasped as she saw the scars. "I was taken by the slavers, and the things they did to me were too horrible to put a name on it, they used me as a test subject for their twisted experiments, they exposed me to things that should have killed me for their sick enjoyment, that is why the guy who bought me paid the slavers. By the time I was rescued most of my body was a wreck, my genetic structure was falling apart."

I put on my clothes back on and looked at her, "My father and a Krogan scientist saw that the only way for me to be able to survive was to have all the missing parts of my genetic structure replaced and have my entire genetic sequence rebuilt. Over half of my genetic structure came from my father, Urdnot Wrex. I suffer from the genophage, and scales cover all of my body, I have the same number of internal organs, and yes that means I got a quad instead of two like most human men have."

"I came to appreciate my father, his teaching, and training, and my clan as I was born a Krogan, Okeer did the experiment but he hardly did it to be selfless, he felt that the experiment could provide a means to end the genophage, it is truly a horrible thing that my people go through, I seen mothers beat themselves against a wall to death when their children failed to be born, stillborn they call it. I saw females stop eating and let themselves be devoured by thresher maws when they learn they are more than likely never going to be able to be mothers. The Genophage may seem like nothing that bad, but I saw the harm it does, and it is truly a horrible thing."

"Jane you were once my girlfriend, hell, you are the only girl I have ever kissed in my entire life. If you feel repulsed by my appearance, I will do what I can to work on my own while you work with your crew, avoid being seen by you and the others, if you think that I am a traitor to the Alliance, well that is not true, I was never part of it, and after all is said and done, I am a Krogan, and damn proud of my clan. So, Jane, do we have a problem that needs to address?"

She looked at me with an almost look of pity on her face, "No, I just wanted to know why you said what you did, trying to understand the way my long lost ex-boyfriend thinks that is all, and I got no problem with aliens on my ship, the question I got is will you have a problem with working with a Turian? The Salarians may be the ones that developed the Genophage, but it was the Turians who used it."


End file.
